Watchman kills 25-yr-old lawyer after rape bid

THE watchman of a building has been arrested in the murder of a young advocate. The victim, daughter of an IAS couple, was found murdered in her rented apartment in Wadala on Thursday morning.

Scene of crime: Pallavi (inset) put up a fight before dying as her body revealed several stab wounds. Her body was found by her live-in boyfriend in her apartment at Himalayan Heights. Pic/Atul Kamble & Anita Anand

Pallavi Purkayastha (25), whose parents stay in Delhi, was found in a pool of her own blood in her apartment on the 16th floor of Himalayan Heights building by her live-in partner Avik Sengupta (26), also a lawyer by profession.

According to P R Yadav, Inspector of Wadala police station, Crime Branch officials from Unit IV arrested Sayyuz Pathan from Mumbai Central station as he was trying to flee to Kashmir to his hometown.

“The authorities had called in all the watchmen of the society. When Pathan didn’t show up for questioning, it raised doubts and cops went to his home where they found that he had left for Mumbai Central station. That is when we reached there and arrested him,” said a senior officer on the condition of anonymity.

Officials believe that Pathan gained access into Pallavi’s home by pretending to be an electrician. “He said he was the electrician and got entry into the home. He then tried to rape her. A scuffle broke out and he stabbed her multiple times and also slit her throat.”

Officials added that Pallavi had lodged a complaint to the society following which Pathan was demoted from his post of security supervisor. The cops suspect the motive behind the gruesome murder was revenge.

Avik, who works at a Colaba-based firm, first found Pallavi’s body when he returned home from work around 4 am.

“When Avik returned home, he found Pallavi’s blood-soaked body. The entire home was splattered with blood. The body had stab wounds on the neck, cheek, head and right hand indicating that Pallavi struggled to save herself. We are now awaiting the results of the autopsy report,” said Senior Inspector Nagesh Sambhaji Jadhav, Wadala police station.

Pallavi’s body was later shifted to nearby Sion Hospital for the post-mortem examination, police said.

Investigations by the cops reveal that the murderer did not use the lift in the building and instead used the staircase, fearing that someone might see them leaving the premises.

Interestingly, during the course of investigations, authorities also found bloodstains on the door of Pallavi’s neighbour. According to KS Shah, who lives next door to Pallavi, he had not heard or seen anything and was unaware of the incident.

“Everyone lives mostly on rent and I do not have the opportunity to talk to the people who live here. I did not hear anything,” said Shah.